Sports Writer, Sidney Herald [Sidney, MT]

Company: Sidney Herald
Position: Great career opportunity
Location: Sidney, Montana
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $20,000 to $25,000
Ad Expires: June 28, 2008
Job ID: 694404
Website: http://www.sidneyherald.com


Description:
The Sidney Herald, located in a small community in northeastern Montana, is a 3,500 circulation bi-weekly newspaper seeking a full-time sports reporter who can deliver accurate and creative sports stories. Reporting experience is preferred, but we will consider top-notch recent graduates. The ideal candidate should be experienced in sports reporting, covering football, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, track, golf, baseball and hockey. The candidate should have excellent writing, photography and pagination skills with Quark. Most important we seek someone who embraces local sports, can communicate well with people and is open to working flexible hours. The Sidney Herald is part of Wick Communications, a family owned community news company with 32 newspapers and 23 specialty publications in 13 states. We offer a competitive wage and an outstanding benefits package. Sidney is a quaint agricultural community where recreational opportunities like hunting, fishing and camping abound in the surrounding area. Checkout www.sidneyherald.com to see more about Sidney and the publication. Please include writing samples with your resume and cover letter to: Sidney Herald, sports reporter position, 310 2nd Ave NE, Sidney, MT 59270 or e-mail info to editor@sidneyherald.com.

Anyone know anything about this place?

 

Middle. Of. Nowhere.

And it's not even in the scenically beautiful part of the state.

 

I'm under no illusion about the pay in newspapers, but so many of these jobs are offering barely enough to live on. If newspapers die out, it's their own damn fault. You get what you pay (or don't pay) for.

 

Not saying you're wrong ... but that looks to be very much an after-college gig to me. And cost of living has got to be pretty low, too.

 

Doesn't matter. If you constantly lowball every position, you deserve what you get. Talented young journalists aren't gonna stick around the middle of nowhere and struggle to pay the electric bill.

 

You might be surprised. First, because of its remoteness, some of the most expensive gas in the state can be found there. And filling up is no picnic for people making a lot more than $20K to $25K.

Second, there's a huge energy boom there, so housing can be difficult to come by. Stuff is available, but the quality can be iffy.

As I noted on an earlier thread about Sidney, my in-laws live in the area, so I'd be happy to take on some questions via PM. I don't know much about the inner workings of the paper.

And Doc's right: It's not the part of Montana that most people think of. It's beautiful in its own way -- I'm particular to the Badlands, myself -- but if you're looking for mountains, trees and clear lakes, you better have a good imagination. Or Google Earth.

 

Montana is not a cheap place to live, regardless of what the rest of the country thinks. Shipping anything there is uber expensive because of its remoteness.

 

But the no sales tax thing is definitely a bonus.

 

To whom? It just puts the state tax burden disproportionately on property owners (oh, and by the way, prepare to pay a WHOLE lot on your annual car tax bill).

And if you rent, the property owner is going to put that burden on you. So you'll pay, one way or another.

More fun: If you want to fly out of Sidney ... well, you can't. The airline that had the federal rural service contract went under, and its successor doesn't yet have the planes to restore it. But you can drive to Billings (270 miles) or Bismarck (250 miles) and hop a flight there, and pay through the nose for the privilege.

Unless you want to never leave -- and many Montanans don't -- it's not a place for the faint of heart or the shallow of wallet.

 

Yup. I paid $550 for a fucking studio when I lived there.

 

Not really. I pay for rent now (two bedroom, mid-sized city) about what I paid for a studio with the fucking roof about to cave in and mold growing all over the bathroom.

Believe me. It balances out, and the car tax is insane. I paid over $150 for my 10-year-old Sunfire's tags.

Listen to Doc and I. We know. We've been there.

 

True enough, sc ... course the gas tax used to be through the roof, but seems like that isn't quite as far out of line now as it used to be, eh?